Scrooge Offers Tips On Gift-buying, Spending

Answer Desk

During the holiday season, I receive requests from readers for information about SCROOGE. (No, not the heartless gentleman from "A Christmas Carol")

SCROOGE is an acronym for the Society to Curtail Ridiculous, Outrageous and Ostentatious Gift Exchange.

The Charlottesville-based group was founded in 1979 to provide good-natured moral support for those who want to modify their holiday gift-giving practices. The group has more than 2,000 members in the United States, Canada and other countries.

SCROOGE's Christmas-on-the-cheap guidelines are not to spend more than 1 percent of one's annual gross income on gifts. For a family with a $35,000 income, that's no more than $350 - and that's for everybody on your gift-giving list.

For children easily enticed by TV commercials, SCROOGE encourages you to take them to the store and show them what the toy looks like. In some cases, the child may realize the toy in the store isn't as exciting as what he or she saw on TV - and will no longer want it. Also, suggest the child list 10 items and select the top five "so Santa will have enough to give other children."

Chuck Langham, president of SCROOGE, writes a newsletter offering tips on buying or avoiding certain gifts. The newsletter is available for $2 and covers the cost of copying and mailing the newsletter.